Editors’ Collection

Our Best Birthday Cakes

Celebrate your favorite person with these delicious birthday cakes from NYT Cooking.

Linda Xiao for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Yossy Arefi.

Recipes

Classic White Cake
Yossy Arefi
225 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
225
2 hours 20 minutes
or to save this recipe.
Chocolate Layer Cake
Claire Saffitz
1106 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
1,106
2¼ hours
or to save this recipe.
Rainbow Sprinkle Cake
Julia Moskin, Candace Nelson
4407 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
4,407
1½ hours, plus cooling
or to save this recipe.
Strawberry Layer Cake
Lisa Donovan
189 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
189
2 hours 40 minutes
or to save this recipe.
Carrot Cake
Dorie Greenspan
10725 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
10,725
1 hour 30 minutes, plus at least 15 minutes' refrigeration
or to save this recipe.
Chocolate Birthday Cake
Eric Kim
364 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
364
1 hour 20 minutes, plus cooling and chilling
or to save this recipe.
Strawberry Lemonade Cake
Yossy Arefi
992 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
992
90 minutes, plus 50 minutes cooling and chilling
or to save this recipe.
Princess Cake
Nicola Lamb
244 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
244
About 3 hours
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Easy Chocolate Cake
Yossy Arefi
971 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
971
About 2 hours
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Chocolate-Chocolate Birthday Cake
Dorie Greenspan
3359 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
3,359
Baking and cooling: About 3 hours
or to save this recipe.
Rum-Raisin Carrot Cake
Vaughn Vreeland
230 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
230
2¼ hours
or to save this recipe.
Baked Alaska
Lidey Heuck
126 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
126
About 7 hours 20 minutes
or to save this recipe.
Southern Red Velvet Cake
Kim Severson, Adams Extract Company
3562 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
3,562
1 hour
or to save this recipe.
Chocolate Birthday Cake Butter Mochi
Sara Bonisteel, Sheldon Simeon
897 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
897
1 hour 15 minutes, plus cooling
or to save this recipe.
Vanilla Cake
Lidey Heuck
397 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
397
1 hour and 50 minutes
or to save this recipe.
Strawberry and Cream Layer Cake
Claire Saffitz
2424 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
2,424
2 hours
or to save this recipe.
Coconut Layer Cake
Melissa Clark, Larissa Raphael
1717 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
1,717
2 hours, plus cooling
or to save this recipe.
Yellow Sheet Cake With Chocolate Frosting
Erin Jeanne McDowell
2108 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
2,108
45 minutes
or to save this recipe.
Gluten-Free Yellow Sheet Cake
Brian Levy
90 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
90
1 hour 10 minutes, plus cooling (or 3 hours with frosting)
or to save this recipe.
Southern Caramel Cake
Millie Peartree
1987 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
1,987
50 minutes, plus cooling
or to save this recipe.
Classic Birthday Cake
Alison Roman
2281 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
2,281
About 1 hour 15 minutes plus chilling
or to save this recipe.
Hawaiian Guava Cake
Kiera Wright-Ruiz, Alana Kysar
1407 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
1,407
50 minutes, plus chilling
or to save this recipe.
Lemon Cupcakes
Samantha Seneviratne
244 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
244
40 minutes, plus cooling
or to save this recipe.
Easy
Cardamom Cream Cake
Melissa Clark
968 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
968
2½ hours, plus cooling
or to save this recipe.
Black Forest Cake
Samantha Seneviratne
1082 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
1,082
1½ hours, plus chilling
or to save this recipe.
Seis Leches Cake
Melissa Clark
1821 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
1,821
1 hour, plus cooling and chilling
or to save this recipe.
Blackout Cake
The New York Times, Ebinger’s
2285 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
2,285
3 hours plus chilling
or to save this recipe.
Sponge Cake
Claire Saffitz
2122 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
2,122
50 minutes
or to save this recipe.
Ambrosia Cake
Melissa Clark
498 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
498
3 hours
or to save this recipe.
Hummingbird Cake
Vallery Lomas
1778 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
1,778
1 hour
or to save this recipe.
Chocolate Tres Leches Cake
Margaux Laskey, Odette Williams
720 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
720
50 minutes, plus soaking
or to save this recipe.
Magnolia Bakery’s Cupcakes
Susan Campos
3442 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
3,442
About 45 minutes
or to save this recipe.
Cranberry-Lemon Stripe Cake
Tejal Rao, Yotam Ottolenghi, Helen Goh
560 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
560
2 hours, plus baking/cooling
or to save this recipe.
Devil's Food White-Out Cake
Emily Weinstein, Dorie Greenspan
292 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
292
1 hour 40 minutes, plus 1 hour's refrigeration
or to save this recipe.
Milk and Honey Cake
Melissa Clark, Odette Williams
1356 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
1,356
1¼ hours, plus cooling
or to save this recipe.
Ruth Reichl’s Giant Chocolate Cake
Kim Severson, Ruth Reichl
2250 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
2,250
1½ hours
or to save this recipe.
Red Velvet Cupcakes
Millie Peartree
646 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
646
45 minutes
or to save this recipe.
Chocolate Church Cake
Lisa Donovan
1902 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
1,902
1 hour, plus cooling
or to save this recipe.
Flourless Chocolate Cake
Genevieve Ko
4350 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
4,350
1 hour 15 minutes
or to save this recipe.
Easy
Peach-Raspberry Ice Cream Cake
Samantha Seneviratne
334 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
334
1 hour, plus 8 hours' chilling
or to save this recipe.
Chocolate Hazelnut Crepe Cake
Samantha Seneviratne
463 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
463
2 hours, plus 4 hours' chilling
or to save this recipe.
Lisbon Chocolate Cake
Dorie Greenspan
4969 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
4,969
About 1 hour, plus cooling
or to save this recipe.
Spumoni Ice Cream Cake
Ali Slagle
867 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
867
50 minutes, plus 6 hours’ freezing
or to save this recipe.
Chocolate Chestnut Cake
David Tanis, Alice Medrich
478 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
478
1 hour
or to save this recipe.
Birthday Baked Alaska
Dorie Greenspan, Zoë François
682 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
682
About 1 hour, plus at least 7 hours’ freezing
or to save this recipe.
Chocolate-Cherry Cake
Eric Kim
555 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
555
1 hour, plus cooling
or to save this recipe.
Orange Creamsicle Ice Cream Cake
Ali Slagle
782 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
782
20 minutes, plus 2 hours’ freezing
or to save this recipe.
Easy
Texas Sheet Cake
Genevieve Ko
1260 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
1,260
45 minutes, plus cooling
or to save this recipe.
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